Another Facebook lawsuit

This week, Facebook is facing legal action for a change. It is being sued by Rembrandt, a company acting on behalf of late programmer Johannes Jozef Everardus van Der Meer.

It has been claimed that Facebook’s success is partly down to the unauthorised use of two of van Der Meer’s patents. It is claimed that the hugely successfully ‘like’ button as well as the ‘timeline’ feature are both based on van Der Meer’s ‘Surfbook’, and Rembrandt reckon they’ve got a good case.

However, some critics insist that Rembrandt Social Media is a “patent troll firm” whose sole function is to acquire patents and then sue firms that infringe said patents. Facebook has declined to comment.

If you have a great and original social media idea and want to avoid the sue Facebook queue further down the line, remember that you can apply for a patent. Find out more information on applying for a UK patent here.

Image source: GlockStore

I predict a RIOT

A decade after Spielberg’s sci-fi hit Minority Report, which showed a world where advanced technology allows the authorities to predict when a future crime would be committed, could we now be moving toward a society like this (but without a daft, Tom Cruise-style Hollywood ending)?

New spyware technology RIOT, or Rapid Information Overlay Technology, claims it can catch criminals before they’ve committed a crime by tracking their online behaviour. Their future movements can be predicted by mining vast amounts of information from social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare.

The software has not yet been sold to any clients. However, mining from public websites for the purposes of law enforcement is considered legal in most countries, and it is thought that the British government may be interested.

Is this an invasion of privacy and, more importantly, does it pose a threat to civil liberties?

Image source: totalfilm.com

Learning from #HMVXFactorFiring

The recent HMV official Twitter account hijack has highlighted to brands the potentially damaging nature of not monitoring what is being said about your brand – and by who – on social platforms. Brands shouldn’t shy away from social media, however, and should be encouraged to have an agile marketing and crisis management strategy in place.

HMV left themselves open to multiple questions as to why management did not have access to the account and whether staff had signed non-disclosure agreements.

Brands can and should take some simple steps to avoid a similar situation. Taking social media seriously and having a crisis management strategy in place can easily prevent the latter, and there are numerous tools at your disposal to help monitor and react to various social situations.

The ability to react quickly on social channels is vital in order to nip a crisis in the bud but it can also be a great way to respond to a news hook, encourage interaction and increase the brand profile, like Paddy Power did here:

Image source: HolyRood

Digital catwalk

Topshop have teamed up with Google to create an innovative digital experience for London Fashion Week.

The event that takes place this Sunday at the Tate Modern will included a series of interactive options, including a ‘Model Cam’ and a ‘Be the Buyer’ hangout on Google+ that allows users to create their own mood board of pieces from the show.

All content will be hosted on the Topshop Google+ page and the show will be streamed live on Topshop’s YouTube channel. Chief marketing manager at Topshop Justin Cooke said: "By partnering with Google we are broadcasting the show to the consumer from every single perspective.”

Last September, Topshop partnered with Facebook to devise a ‘customisable catwalk’ plug-in for Topshop.com, and this new partnership is looking to be just as successful – if not more so – in opening up the exclusive fashion show world to the masses.

Viral video

The Harlem Shake has been dubbed 2013’s answer to Gangnam Style, and in the last week there have been around 30,000 Harlem Shake videos posted online. The trend began with the SunnyCoastSkate video but went viral when offices started uploading videos of themselves doing the dance, including one by Facebook employees. The most viewed one to date is from Maker Studios, seen below.

Infographic time

Quora is fast growing in popularity and recently launched a new blogging platform that automatically distributes posts to the question and answer part of its site, thus offering bloggers access to highly engaged communities. Here’s a little more about its success.